Street Smarts: A view of the east

Where to live in Toronto's Queen East neighbourhood

By Suzanne Wintrob

Paula Fletcher loves meeting new people. Naturally, the Ward 30 councillor finds Queen Street East the perfect place to do just that given the abundance of independent coffee shops that serve as community hangouts.

“I like being outside on the street and riding my bike,” says Fletcher, who oversees the Riverside and Leslieville neighbourhoods. “In the summer I like to see everybody, have a coffee, get some flowers, visit people, go to Ralph Martin Centre, stop in at the park. There are just great things to do along that street.”

But the one thing she and her constituents are distressed about is a condominium project called Film Studio Lofts at Queen and Pape that has been sitting idle for several years. The exterior of the fenced-off mid-rise building sports yellow drywall and it appears there’s little movement on the construction front. But alas, the builder has a building permit and there’s not much anyone can do.

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“There’s no legal remedy,” says Fletcher, who is trying to have the scaffolding removed. “As long as someone is doing a little bit of work they still have an open permit. I find that very difficult. … I think it’s a problem when people run out of money or run out of steam and then something like that is left on the street.”

But the good news is there are plenty of projects rolling. Here’s a sampling of those on the go: